Journalist

Bad pitch: Rap artist 50 Cent looks on before throwing the ceremonial first pitch of a game between the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Photo: AFP

He can throw beats but he can’t throw balls. 50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, chucked a dreadfully wayward first pitch at a clash between the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The ball almost struck a photographer after coming off the rapper’s left hand at close to 45 degrees.

Celebrities are frequently invited to take the first pitch at major league baseball games. Some are calling this the worst opening shot in the league's history, though Mariah Carey’s stilleto-clad, ground-grubbing 2008 effort in Tokyo may still take the cake.

Back home, it’s been prime ministers who have fared the worst on the pitch. John Howard, a well-known cricket tragic, bowled a pitiful ball while playing with Australian troops in Pakistan in 2005. And in 1984, Bob Hawke nicked a ball into his own face during the Prime Minister’s XI match in Canberra, smashing his glasses.